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Partridges, Pudding Of
The flavour of partridges is never better preserved than when they are cooked in a pudding. Pluck, draw, and singe a brace of well-kept partridges, cut them into neat joints, and if they are not very young, take off the skin before doing so. Line a quart pudding-basin with a good suet crust, half an inch in thickness, and in trimming it off leave an inch above the edge. Lay a thin slice of rump steak at the bottom of the pudding, then put in the pieces of partridge, season with pepper and salt, and pour over them a quarter of a pint of good brown gravy. Roll out the cover, lay it on the pudding, moisten the edge, and press over it the inch that was left round the rim. Wring a pudding-cloth out of hot water, flour it well, and tie it securely over the pudding. Plunge it into boiling water, and keep it fast boiling all the time it is on the fire; as soon as it is taken off, cut a small round of pastry out of the top, to let the steam escape. If the appearance is not objected to, partridge pudding, like all other meat puddings, is much better when served in the dish in which it was cooked. If it is to be turned out, however, the basin must be thickly buttered before the pastry is put in. A few mushrooms will be a great improvement to this pudding, though it will be very good without. Time, three hours to boil. Probable cost, 4s. 6d. Sufficient for six or seven persons.
A boiled suet pudding of the standard Victorian type, with game in place of the usual steak and kidney. The method is straightforward; the details that trip people up are the crust thickness, the water level, and the birds themselves.
- A brace, and how to get oneA brace is two birds. Grey or red-legged partridge are sold oven-ready by game dealers in autumn and winter, and frozen year-round; two dressed birds give roughly 1 lb of jointed meat. Wild-shot birds may carry lead shot, so feel through the flesh before jointing.
- "Well-kept"Victorian game was commonly hung for several days to deepen flavour and tenderise. Birds sold oven-ready today have generally been hung before dressing, so no further ageing is called for.
- Suet crust proportionsThe book assumes you know the crust: roughly 1 lb plain flour to 8 oz shredded suet, a teaspoon of salt, and cold water to a firm dough, which is about right to line and cover a quart basin at the half-inch called for. Vegetable suet works, though the set is slightly softer.
- Vessel and quantitiesA quart basin is about 1.1 litres — a standard 2-pint pudding basin. A quarter of a pint of gravy is 5 fl oz, about 150 ml; use a well-reduced brown stock rather than a thin one, since the sealed crust lets almost no liquid evaporate.
- Keeping it boilingThree hours at a fast boil will drop the water level considerably. Keep the basin covered by at least two-thirds and top up only with boiling water from a kettle; cold water stops the cooking and can make the crust heavy.
- Cloth or foilThe floured, wrung-out cloth is the period method and works, but pleated baking parchment under pleated foil, tied under the rim with string and a string handle, is easier to lift and just as tight. The pleat matters — the crust rises.
- The steam ventCutting a small round from the top of the crust the moment it comes off the heat is not decorative. It lets the pudding stop expanding, so the crust does not collapse or split as it cools on the way to the table.
- YieldSix or seven servings is optimistic by modern portions; with two partridges and a slice of steak, expect four generous helpings. Serve in the basin as the book advises — turning out a boiled meat pudding is where they usually break.
Boiled suet puddings filled with meat were the great economical dish of the nineteenth-century British kitchen: a pot on the fire, a basin, a cloth, and no oven required. The recipe places partridge in this humble frame — the sealed crust traps the birds' juices and aroma in a way roasting cannot, and older or tougher birds past their prime for the spit become tender over three hours of steady boiling. The instruction to skin any bird that is not very young and to lay a slice of rump steak beneath is often said to suit game puddings, the beef supplying the fat and gelatine that lean game lacks. The quoted cost of 4s 6d marks this as a dish for a comfortable household during the shooting season, which in Britain opens for partridge on 1 September; poorer kitchens made the same pudding with beef, or with rabbit.